Introducing the Inaugural PLOS Mental Health Lived Experience Focus Group

Towards the end of last year, PLOS Mental Health announced its intentions to form an independent focus group, which would give people with lived experiences of a mental health condition the opportunity to help shape the journal and the publishing landscape.

The group will be meeting via Zoom twice a year to talk about topics that are of high interest and importance to mental health communities worldwide in order to ensure that our journal is being as inclusive and proactive as possible. 

PLOS Mental Health is incredibly grateful to all of those who applied to join the group. We have been blown away by the interest and by the incredible, ongoing advocacy efforts of those who applied. Each and every one of the applicants is making a huge difference to the mental health landscape globally and we will do what we can to provide a platform for all of them in some capacity in the future.

We understand that the voluntary nature of the position will be something that is not completely comfortable for all in our communities and we hear that some feel that this is not where we should be. We will continue to monitor the situation as this pilot effort develops. We remain flexible and adaptive where possible. In the meantime, we are striving to ensure that our focus group members benefit from being part of this pilot, form meaningful connections, and feel empowered to shine a spotlight on causes that matter to them. All members have joined for their own reasons and we hope to foster the interactions and experiences that they seek.

We remain respectful of, and grateful for, all perspectives and hope that discussions surrounding this group remain safe and gracious – especially towards those who have generously chosen to be part of the group for their own reasons and have shown tremendous trust in the efforts of our journal.  

We are thrilled to announce that the members of the first focus group are….

In alphabetical order…

1. Abigail Slinger (She/Her, UK/Canada)
2. Akiko Inoshima (She/Her, Japan)
3. Bethan Burnside (Any/All, Belgium)
4. Carlos A. Larrauri (He/Him, USA)
5. Cyrille Nkouonlack (Cameroon)
6. Luiz Roberto (Beto) Carvalho (He/Him, Brazil)
7. Mark Storey (He/Him, USA)
8. Minh Dũng Hoàng Lê (He/Him, Vietnam)
9. Noor Dajanic (Jordan)
10. Parth Sharma (He/They, India)
11. Polina Abrazhevych (She/Her, Ukraine)
12. Taylor Locke (They/Them, USA)
13. Victor Ugo (He/Him, Denmark/Nigeria)

We look forward to developing as a journal and learning from our amazing communities. This focus group is just one of the ways in which we are trying to do that and we will keep you updated as we continue this journey. As a new journal in a rapidly-evolving and sensitive field, we will continue to learn and adapt where needed.